A franchise seven movies in shouldn’t be this good. The “Fast and Furious” series almost died after the dismal “2 Fast 2 Furious,” but in 2006, director Justin Lin revived the franchise with the immensely enjoyable “Tokyo Drift.” Although Lin’s follow-up (2009’s “Fast & Furious”) was a misstep, he quickly bounced back with “Fast Five,” taking the franchise to another level. The scope, laughs and characters ballooned, proving less isn’t always more. “Furious 7,” directed by James Wan, continues the series’ tradition of going big.

The sequel picks up not long after the events of “Fast & Furious 6.” Owen Shaw (Luke Evans) is still alive, but just barely, and his older brother, Deckard (Jason Statham), is going to finish the fight he started, vowing to take out Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel), Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker), Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) and the rest of the gang, including series regulars Tyrese Gibson and Ludacris. That’s the core story of “Furious 7,” but there are terrorists, a hacker and a device that can track anyone in the world that the “Fast” family must contend with as well.

These movies are almost overstuffed by design. Chris Morgan’s script doesn’t really have 127 minutes of story to tell, but “Furious 7” is so giddy and overblown that its bloated runtime is more of a blessing than a burden. Right when you think these movies are about to slow down, they keep going, especially in the action department. Do the action set pieces defy the laws of physics? Possibly, but that’s what makes them so appealing. When a car hops from building, to building, to building, it’s like something out of a 12-year-old’s dream.

Almost every set piece is impressive, including a chase sequence in the mountains that’ll go down as one of the year’s finest pieces of action. There’s total clarity in where characters are amongst the chaos and wreckage, their mission is simple, and each character serves a purpose. There’s also not a weak link in the ensemble. Although Diesel is pretty one-note as Toretto, the character’s simplicity is a part of his charm. Toretto is a totally beefed up, B-movie cliché – a guy that just wants to protect his family. There’s a sincerity and tongue-in-cheek quality to the drama and stakes in “Furious 7,” and it’s a tough tonal balance the film pulls off.

There’s also some new additions to the cast. Kurt Russell shows up as a mysterious government agent, and what could’ve been a purely expository character is, in the hands of Russell, a scene stealer. Few actors are as charming as the veteran actor, so it’s no surprise he makes a small role this much fun. Unfortunately, if there’s one supporting player who gets the short end of the stick, it’s Dwayne Johnson. Johnson’s Hobbs is a fan favorite, for good reason, but he’s only in the movie for roughly 15 minutes. Each moment with him is a joy, whether he’s sweating profusely or issuing threats, but his presence is missed in the second act.

As for Paul Walker, the filmmakers give him a nice sendoff. Wan and all involved were stuck in a tough spot in how to handle saying goodbye to Walker and the character of Brian O’Conner, but they do so with respect and love. They used Walker’s brothers (Caleb and Cody) in addition to facial replacement technology to complete O’Conner’s remaining scenes, and the effect mostly works. There are shots where O’Conner’s face is obviously hidden from the camera, even when the character is speaking, but it’s only a minor distraction.

After the tragedy this production faced, it’s astonishing how well “Furious 7” turned out. Wan, who’s best known for his horror films, proves he’s the real deal as a blockbuster filmmaker. And though he hasn’t reinvented the series’ formula, he’s managed to deliver the kind of big popcorn fun these movies promise.

Marvel Studios has a history of taking some big risks, from the men behind the camera to those in front of it, and “Guardians of the Galaxy” is perhaps their biggest one yet. Not only is the comic book on which it’s based an unknown quantity to most moviegoers (if Iron Man used to be considered a B-list character, then the Guardians are on the D-list), but James Gunn isn’t exactly the first person you’d think of to direct a big-budget comic book movie. Despite his lack of experience, the bigwigs at Marvel clearly saw something in his earlier work (the horror comedy “Slither” and the superhero satire “Super”) that suggested he was the right man for the job, and Gunn has definitely repaid their faith in him by producing the best possible version of a “Guardians of the Galaxy” film and one of the most purely fun Marvel movies to date.

Chris Pratt stars as Peter Quill, a member of an intergalactic group of thieves and smugglers who was kidnapped from Earth as a young boy. When he’s sent by his boss Yondu (Michael Rooker) to steal a mysterious orb, only to double-cross him in order to keep the artifact for himself, Quill becomes the target of a power-hungry alien named Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace), who’s made a deal with the Mad Titan Thanos (the purple-skinned figure teased at the end of “The Avengers”) to give him the orb in exchange for destroying his enemy’s home planet. After he’s captured and thrown into prison, Quill teams up with a quartet of fellow misfits – deadly assassin Gamora (Zoe Saldana), revenge-driven bruiser Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista), gun-toting raccoon Rocket (Bradley Cooper) and tree-like humanoid Groot (Vin Diesel) – to mount an escape. But when the group discovers the true power of the orb, they agree to stick together a little longer in order to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands.

There’s a lot more to the story, especially when you get into each character’s different motivations, but elaborating any further would likely only cause confusion, which is one of the biggest hurdles that the film is going to encounter with audiences. So few people actually know about the Guardians and the universe they inhabit (often referred to as Marvel Cosmic to differentiate between the Earth-bound action of the Avengers) that there’s a much larger learning curve than usual. Of course, that’s also its biggest asset, because it provides more freedom for Gunn to tell the story that he wants without worrying about any repercussions that it might have on connecting films, unlike this year’s “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” which proved to be a huge game changer for the future of the Marvel cinematic universe.

“Guardians of the Galaxy” is the closest thing to a standalone movie that the studio has made since the first “Iron Man,” and Gunn absolutely nails the offbeat tone of the source material, creating a sort of punk rock “Star Wars” that delivers big on adventure and comedy with a thoroughly entertaining cast of characters. Though Lee Pace and Karen Gillan’s antagonists aren’t as memorable as past Marvel villains (blame Loki for setting the bar so high), everyone else is great in their roles. Chris Pratt is perfectly cast as the Han Solo-like ruffian, oozing charisma with plenty to spare, and Dave Bautista is surprisingly good as the no-nonsense Drax, but it’s the rambunctious Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper) who steals the show in hilarious fashion. That shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to fans of the comic, but with Rocket and his sidekick Groot, Gunn has created two of the most dynamic CG characters in recent memory. He even found a way to make excellent use of longtime collaborator Michael Rooker, who gets quite a bit to do as the mohawked space pirate Yondu, including one of the film’s best moments.

As expected from a movie like “Guardians of the Galaxy,” there’s no shortage of action, and a lot of it is really well done, but some of the most enjoyable scenes are those where the Guardians are just sitting around talking (or more specifically, bickering over a plan), because they complement each other remarkably well. Finding that balance where all five characters are represented equally isn’t an easy feat, but Gunn does a good job of giving each of them the attention they deserve. In fact, it’s hard to find much at fault with the movie beyond the lackluster villains and a few other minor things. It’s not perfect, but if Gunn’s objective was to make a funny, action-packed and slightly off-kilter space opera that introduced audiences to the Guardians and left them wanting more when it ended, well… mission accomplished.

The “Fast and Furious” franchise is like popcorn movie kryptonite – it’s my only weakness. (Okay, maybe not my only weakness.) But for as cheesy, soapy and utterly preposterous as the movies can get at times, they’re also incredibly entertaining, especially following director Justin Lin’s retooling of the series. Though the sixth installment doesn’t quite live up to 2011’s “Fast Five,” which took the franchise to new heights in more ways than one, it still delivers everything that fans have come to expect over the years. Bigger and dumber but still tons of fun, “Fast & Furious 6” may have you rolling your eyes even more than usual, but that’s part of what make the series so great.

Picking up several months after the events of “Fast Five,” the movie finds Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) laying low in Spain when he’s visited by DSS agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) with some interesting news: his old flame, Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), isn’t quite as dead as previously believed. In fact, she’s working with a British soldier turned criminal named Owen Shaw (Luke Evans) who’s planning on stealing a top secret computer chip worth billions, and Hobbs needs Dom’s help to catch him. With the promise of full pardons for everyone involved, and the added incentive of finding out what happened to Letty, Dom enlists the rest of the crew (save for Puerto Rican jokesters Tego and Rico) and heads to London to face off against Shaw and his own team of street racing criminals.

One of the biggest reasons “Fast Five” worked as well as it did was the excellent chemistry between its ensemble cast, and that continues in this installment. Everyone has their part to play, although Paul Walker’s role has been surprisingly downgraded this time around. Johnson, on the other hand, is given more screen time now that Hobbs is playing nice with Dom and Co., while Sung Kang remains the standout of the supporting players. It’s also nice to see Rodriguez return to the series after her limited appearance in “Fast & Furious,” and the reasoning behind her mysterious survival is handled both swiftly and smartly. Lin has even brought in “Haywire” star Gina Carano (as Hobbs’ right-hand man) to serve as the perfect adversary for Letty, leading to a pair of fight scenes that are almost as good as the Diesel/Johnson brawl from the last film.

Of course, that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the incredible action on display. Whereas “Fast Five” was more of an “Ocean’s Eleven”-type crime caper, “Fast & Furious 6” feels like a straight-up action film, jam-packed with a series of excellent set pieces that somehow manage to outdo the previous movies in excess and sheer ridiculousness. The over-the-top nature of the “Fast and Furious” franchise has always been its greatest asset and its biggest criticism, and there’s no better example of that than in some of the gleefully entertaining “Oh my god, I can’t believe that just happened” insanity that takes place in the film.

The fact that more than one instance of this occurs throughout the movie certainly favors its detractors, but at this point in the series, you probably shouldn’t be watching these films if you’re still complaining about the types of miraculous, logic-defying feats of physics that have become customary. And in that respect, “Fast & Furious 6” doesn’t disappoint, all while tying together past installments and setting up futures ones (the end credits stinger shouldn’t be missed) with such ease that it’s no wonder why Universal fast-tracked a sequel before anyone even saw this one. And truth be told, I can barely hide my excitement.